Nevada County picayune., 1887-02-16
THE TWO PEACHES.


 Vital Herbclot had altered won derfully since the days when we were schoolmates. l had left
 him young, timid, dressed like a
 flop. and excessively modest in de- Q meanor, as 1t was proper clerk l. should be who had yet to make
 his way in the office where fortune
 had placed him. The man before
 me now was burly, stout old fel-
 low, his face and neck Drowned by
 the sun, with bright eye, a loud
 voice, and the short, brusque man.
 her of man accustomed to com.
 maud--in short the easy, com
 fortable micn of a well-to-do citi-
 zen.
 "What are you doing, Herbe. T. lot?r 1 said to him as we chatted %'g % between the courses. "Still in the
 administration"
 m 1T tilC dtIlulS utlOu. SiouiN
 say not" he responded. "Didn't ed you know that l had given it ups
 Pm a eultivator. Half league n. from here, at Cauteraine, Pve a farm which brings me around sum.
 Come home with me and taste my 2 Burguady."
 "You a farmerl You, the son v and grandson of line of bureau . crats, the model clerk. the pros 7 pec,ive ambassador! How did if . happen?"
 - After the banquet I'll tell you.
 Great changes are frequently pro.
 duced by the slightest causes. l ' gave up amy profession for two z peaches"
 : 1.-Two peaches!" l cried, astound- ' ed.
 A "Yes, two peaches; neither more
 nor less; but have patience; wait . until we are at Cauteraine and you ' shall know all about it."
 A half hour later we quilted the
 banqueting room, and lighting \ cigars began our walk to the farm. 7 It was a warm afternoon at the
 end of August, but the road was
 we'll shaded and gentle breeze ' blowing from the direction of the / river prevented our suffering from . the heat.
 . "You know" said Herbelot, be. ginning his story. "that in my - youth I was a rolling ball, without - decided preference for any pro
 fession, but my father, an old em- U ploye himself, could see nothing v comparable to career in a public " office. As soon. therefore, as l
 had received my diploma nothing
 would content him but that l too
 must follow in the ancestral foot
 steps. As l said before, with no ct predlection for special vocation,
 willingly consented and entered
 upon the route of bureaucracy. Industrious, educated and dis. ciplined from infancy to listen with
 difference to the wishes of my su- 'Jinn periors, it was not long before l les was tavorably noticed by the chief, ,st and l rapidly conquered my first he official grade. At this epoch he I married a young and ms beautiful girl, good and affec- dy uonate, but entirely without d- fortune--a grave fault in the eyes
 of the world in which l lived. My
 friends were positive that no n- good could come of it, and openly nd quoted the proverb: If the hus-
 band brings the breakfast the wife an must supply the dinner
 "As far as we were concerned,
 neither of us had enough for the
 scantiest supper, counting out the
 official salary. Perhaps it was f. reckless, but my wife was an ex- 'E ccllent manager; and as We lived ! modestly, with the strictest econ 'f omy, local society ceased to rail at ' our imprudence and still received
 us.
 T "My chief, however, was a very ! rich man, but continued Tn the ! trpadmill of administrative york ! because he loved it, and also be- | cause if gave him an excuse for l lavish hospitality. He was par
 tlcularly fond of throwing open l his doors to society, and every | now and then invited the clerks | | from the office to attend these en-
 tertainnents.
 | "I had far rather have remained at home with my wife, who had be- ,I come very delicate soon after mar